Loving the enemy
by HereLiesDelinquent
Summary: He pushes me into lockers. Stabs me in the back. Calls me names. But I still love him. TROYELLA
1. Trailer

**A/N: Sorry about the other stories. I find them un-unique. I think this story plot hasn't been done yet. I was working on a different one but then this story plot popped into my head. If you like the trailer, tell me and I'll make a chapter 2. And **** keep this one.**** I have never written a trailer before so sorry if it sucks.**

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own any of these characters...sadly.**

**Trailer**

**She was the school's freaky genius girl.**

Shows Gabriella Montez mixing chemicals.

**He was the schools popular jock.**

Shows Troy Bolton shooting hoops in the basketball courts.

"SCORE!"

**She was being bullied by him.**

"Look it's Geeky Gabi!" Troy says to his gang.

Gabriella runs away from him

"Yeah, you better run!" Troy says as everyone laughs.

**But in reality...she liked him.**

Shows Gabriella writing in her diary.

_"Oh I wish he knew how I felt..."_

**But what happens when her diary gets stolen and is photocopied all over the school?**

Shows Gabriella looking at all the scattered pieces of paper on the floor.

**Will love flourish?**

Shows Gabriella looking out of her balcony with Troy beside her.

**Or will it sink...never to be remembered again.**

Shows Gabriella running off in tears.

**Will it all change...just for love?**


	2. Sharpay's discovery

**Disclaimer:**** You already know.**

"Geeky Gabi!" Gabriella heard a voice say from afar. She sighed as she turned around to see Troy Bolton and his group of red and white wearing followers coming up to her.

"What do you want Bolton and Clones?" She said as she shut her locker.

"Hey don't call me a clone!" Chad yelled he stepped forward but Jason pulled him back.

"Don't dude, she's not worth it." Jason said as he glared at Gabriella.

"Apparently you aren't either." Gabriella said under her breath.

"Oh, Geeky Gabi has some jokes." Troy said he stepped closer to Gabriella, they were only a few inches away from eachother. Gabriella could feel his breath on her soft face.

"Step away Bolton, or do you want to get slapped?" Gabriella placed her hands on his chest to push him away but he grabbed hold of her.

"Soft hands." Troy smiled then backed off.

"Was that a compliment Bolton?" Gabriella couldn 't help but give a little smile.

"And was that a smile Montez?" Troy gave her a wink, "And no I wasn't flirting...I don't flirt with geeks." Troy said as the rest of them laughed. Gabriella sighed and quickly got out a green leather book out of her locker and headed to the library.

_Dear Diary, _

_ Gee, school's started off well. Two minutes here and already I've been bullied by Troy and his basketball clones. God, I don't know why he made me his target. GOD! I hate him so much! His an annoying, self-centered, arrogant...cute...hot...no wait! Scratch those last two words! _

_I don't know why but...even though he hates me, criticises me and annoys me every day of the week...I still like him...and I don't know why..._

BRIINNGGGGG went the second warning bell. Gabriella quickly shut her diary and headed out to homeroom...Ms.Darbus style.

"Hey what's this?" Sharpay said to herself as Gabriella headed out. She approached a table with a green leather diary on it.

"Property of...G.Montez?" Sharpay smiled. She knew this was her key to all of Gabriella's thoughts and secrets. Sharpay sat down on a soft chair. Her silver bangles made sounds as they hit the table.

Sharpay opened the diary and found a bunch of pages full of writing.

"Hmmm...perfect." Sharpay gave out a smile, she then headed for the schools photocopier machine...

**A/N: Oooo...what's Sharpay up to? Sorry this is so short and rushed. I wanted you guys to get a feel of what the story's about. I promise the next chapter will be long. Well at least I'll try to make it long.**


	3. Troy the pizza boy

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own...I wish.**

"Gabriella!" Gabriella heard Sharpay say as she left homeroom.

"Yes Sharpay?" Gabriella tried to act nice, but in reality...she hated Sharpay so much that she wanted to stuff her in a cage filled with Lions and leave her there forever.

"Are you missing something?" Sharpay gave a smirk as she watched Gabriella search through her grey messenger bag.

"My diar-"

"Looking for this?" Sharpay interrupted as she held out a Green leather book.

"Give that back!" Gabriella said, she tried to snatch it away from Sharpay but Sharpay quickly hid it in her bag.

"Listen Montez. I know all your secrets. Despite the fact it took me all of homeroom to read, I know ALL...and I mean ALL. I know why your dad left, I know why you don't eat the mystery meat in the cafeteria and I know...that you like a very popular someone." Sharpay exclaimed, she smiled as she saw Gabriella give an angry glare.

"You tell anyone I swear I'll-"

"No, no honey. You aren't the one that's doing the blackmailing. That will be me. You see...I did a little photocopying while I excused myself from homeroom." Sharpay got out a stack of papers from her bag. Gabriella immediately noticed it was her diary entries, all photocopied, every single one of them.

"You see Montez. I can scatter these all over the hallways. And then _everyone_ will know your secrets. Not just me. BUT you could do something for me that will make these copies go bye-bye." Sharpay said as she placed the papers back in her bag before Gabriella could get a hold of them.

"Ok fine. Whatever you just, don't distribute those." Gabriella sighed; she hated giving in, especially to someone like Sharpay.

"Make Troy fall in love with _me._" Sharpay said as she smiled.

"What?! No! You know I like him and you want me to make _him_ fall in love with _you _just for _your _own sick amusement?" Gabriella said in shock.

"No it's not for my amusement. I like him too. And if you don't make him fall in love with me...well you know what's going to happen. "Sharpay patted her bag where all the copies were.

"Fine whatever. But in case you haven't noticed, Troy only talks to me to make fun of me so if you're patient..."

"Well that's not my problem is it? It's yours. So do a good job...or else." Sharpay gave a fake smile and walked off in her 'runway' walk.

Gabriella sighed, she absolutley hated helping Sharpay. But if it meant saving her secrets _and_ her reputation...then it was worth it.

Gabriella's next class was English and luckily enough, Troy was in that class. But she didn't want to tell him just yet. She wanted to wait for the right time. Gabriella's eyes started to water at the slightest thought of losing troy to some wannabe Ashley Tisdale. She tried to make the tears go away by thinking about all the times Troy tormented her...but it didn't work.

As Gabriella entered her English class she noticed Troy sitting at the back talking to Chad and Zeke about last weeks basketball match against Wild Hogs. Troy turned around to see if the teacher was there but instead he saw a crying Gabriella.

"Gabriella? Why are you crying? Oh wait, I know why, someone beat you at a maths equation?" Troy said as the others laughed.

"You pick the best times to crack jokes Bolton." Gabriella said as she slid into a seat at the front.

"Whatever, I don't care if you're crying or not. You're my target. And you know that." Troy said as he approached Gabriella. His hands firmly placed on the table she was at. Their eyes met, but it wasn't the way Gabriella hoped they would. Her eyes were filled with tears and eyeliner smudges and his was...just plain angry looking.

"Bolton, I don't give a crap if I'm your target. I don't even know _why_ I'm your target. Just stay away ok?" Gabriella pushed him off the table but he just stood there smiling."You wanna know why? Cause I like you Montez." He gave her a wink and headed off back to Chad and Zeke.

Gabriella thought about what Troy had just said. Was that Troy's way of saying he liked her? Or was it just an insult? Gabriella shook her head to get the thoughts out. Then she thought of something else. Sharpay's asking.

Gabriella didn't want to go through with it. She knew if she did, she'd have no chance with Troy...ever. Not like she already has. Then Gabriella thought about her secrets. And how they were kept neatly in Sharpay's pink Prada bag.

Gabriella slid into her seat and rested her head on top of it. She stared up at the ceiling thinking. Should she do it? Should she go through with it? Or would she just take a risk and let Sharpay show her secrets? Either way was risky and she had no way to stop it.

The rest of the school day went by slowly for Gabriella. She tried to avoid Sharpay and Troy all together. Luckily, she succeeded. Troy was out playing basketball all day and Sharpay was practicing for the spring musical.

When Gabriella got home she collapsed on her bed and thought long and hard at what she'd do. Gabriella decided to get some pizza, as it might take a while for her thoughts to arrange and figure out a plan.

"Hello Pete's Pizza Palace, may I take your order?" The faint sound of cash registers opening and oven timers going off could be heard in the background.

"Uh yeah, let me get a small pepperoni pizza and a large bottle of coke." Gabriella said whilst looking at the menu infront of her.

"Sure can I get your address miss?"

"63 Cydenham boulevard."

"Thankyou, your pizza will arrive in a few minutes."

Gabriella fell on her bed again. She had nothing to do until the pizza came. Maybe she could go on MSN? Nah, she'd have to face Sharpay. How 'bout calling a friend? No way, Taylor is her only friend and she's out of town. So Gabriella decided to put on a movie. But sadly her DVD player was in the shop getting repaired so she decided to see what was one TV.

_Deal or no deal_ **switch**_ Gossip Girl_ **switch** _The bully and me?_

_This looks interesting_ Gabriella thought. As Gabriella watched the movie she realised how much it related to her. The main girl in the story was a smart girl with a bully jock who she liked. But sadly no one could ever know that.

"Gabriella, pizza!" Gabriella heard her mother yell from downstairs. She placed the remote on the bed side table and ran down to the door.

"Thanks here's the mon-" Gabriella dropped the money as she realised who was at the door...Troy?

"Troy? You're a pizza dude?" Gabriella finally said as she went to pick up her $20 note from the floor.

"Yeah, and if I knew this pizza was for you I would've eaten it by now." Troy said taking the $20 bill from her and placing it in his pocket.

"Well, I better go now." Troy gave her a wink and headed off.

"Wait!" Gabriella called after him.

"I'm watching the bully and me, wanna join?" Gabriella signalled for him to come in the house.

"Bully and me? I've watched that like 20 times but whatever. I'll be just a sec, I'm gonna go change." Troy ran off in the distance.

Gabriella went back upstairs. She quickly cleaned up her room as her bras and underwear were scattered all over the floor. She quickly re-touched her make-up and placed the pizza on the bed, the two cups of coke were next to eachother on the bed side table.

"Miss me?" Gabriella heard a voice say at her door. She turned around to see a not so shabby Troy. He was wearing a long-sleeve shirt which had it's sleeves pushed up to his elbows, it was also unbuttoned revealing a red east high shirt. He was also wearing black faded jeans and white nike shoes.

"Wow Troy...when you really clean up you don't look bad." Gabriella said eyeing Troy up and down.

"Whatever Montez. I'm just here for the free pizza, coke and movie." Troy took of his shoes and placed them near the door. He then lied down on Gabriella's bed and took a slice of pizza.

"Hey! That's my spot!" Gabriella tried to push him off but he was to big for her.

"You can sit down next to me." Troy smiled as he patted the empty spot next to him. Gabriella sighed and sat next to him cross-legged.

As the movie went on Gabriella couldn't help but think...why was Troy even here? Was it realluy for the free food? Or was it about what he said in English today? All these questions were running through Gabriella's mind.

"Hey Troy..." Gabriella said as she tucked a peice of hair behind her ear.

"Mmm?" Troy said looking away from the movie.

"About what you said in English before...how...you know...you liked me?" Gabriella asked nervously her heart started beating at a fast rate.

"Oh that? Don't worry, it didn't mean anything." Troy looked back at the TV. Shattered is how Gabriella felt, just seriously shattered.

"Hey what's out there?" Troy pointed to a sliding door behind some white and green curtains.

"Oh that, that's just my balcony." Gabriella said as she followed Troy who was heading for the balcony.

"Nice view." Troy said, holding onto the white railing. He was right, Gabriella's view was of the Northen star beach, the sun was about to set and you could just see it over the horizon.

"Yeah...i don't come out here often." Gabriella said as she looked out into the ocean.

"And why not?" Troy asked, his eyes met hers. This time it was the way she imagined it. Her eyes not wet from tears, but shining in the light and Troy's not red from anger but a nice shade of sea blue.

"Uh...I don't know, never have the chance." She quickly looked away before Troy could say something she'd regret later.

"Troy...can I ask you a question?" Gabriella mumbled.

"Sure." Troy said as he sat down on the railing.

"Why am i your target?" Gabriella said with a big gulp she turned away and walked to the other side of the balcony.

"Don't know. I guess it's cause you're an easy one...and plus, you're probably the only girl in the school that won't fall in love with me or anything." Troy laughed.

"Hehe, yeah..." Gabriella looked down at her cold bare feet, oh how wrong he was.

"Well I gotta get home. You're lucky you were my last pizza delivery for the night." Troy said as he placed his Nike shoes back on.

"Yeah. I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?" Gabriella said as she opened the door for Troy.

"Yeah." Troy smiled at her and headed out.

As Gabriella watched Troy walking away she knew exactly what to do about the Sharpay situation...

**A/N:**** I guess this is a pretty long chapter. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to but oh well. So what do you think Gabriella's going to do about the Sharpay situation? Will she make him fall in love with Sharpay or will she not?**

**I bet you didn't expect Troy to be that nice to Gabriella in this chapter...well me neither haha!**


	4. A Mayon Beige original

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own sigh**

**P.S ****Anything in **_**italic **_**is Gabriella's thoughts.**

* * *

Gabriella paced the East high halls still thinking about last nights "hang-out" with Troy. She wondered if it really meant something...or if it was just something stupid she did. Her thoughts all rested on that night...all she thought about was that night... 

"Gabriella!" A loud girly voice yelled from across the hall. As Gabriella looked up, she noticed Sharpay in her pink stilettos, pink tank top...pink EVERYTHING heading her way.

"What do you want Sharpay?" Gabriella said in an annoyed tone.

"I want to talk to you about your "date" with Troy." She said whilst using air quotes.

"What?! It wasn't a date! We just hung out and...wait...how d'you know about this?" Gabriella said in confusion.

"Please, everyone knows about it. If you don't then you're no one." She said acting like the gossip queen of all time. "Anyway, what I want to know is _why_ did you hang out with him? Have you forgotten about your little secret?" Sharpay patted her violet Louis Vuitton bag, probably the only thing that wasn't pink that she's wearing.

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't forget...it was a mistake that I'll never make again." Gabriella said not making eye contact as she stared at the locker next to her.

"Good well...you know about the Rhite's dance coming up right? You know the one where the principal made up the name by combining the words Red and White together to make some Corny name? Well that one. And I need you to-"

"Let me guess, ask Troy to take you to the dance?" Gabriella interrupted.

"Exactly! Glad you catch on quick! So hurry or else...well, you know. Ciao!" Sharpay said as she flicked her hair and walked away as eleglanty as possible.

Gabriella sighed, now she has more on her shoulders! As she slid to the bottom of the locker next to her she heard the basketball team coming through the halls. They were all sweaty from their morning practice still wearing their basketball jereseys and holding their over-used basketballs.

As she looked through the crowd she noticed a familiar face. A guy with medium-length light brown hair and shining blue eyes. He had his stunning smile on and his hair was pushed back away from his face. She couldn't help but smile.

"What are you smiling at Montez?" She heard a voice say above her. She looked up to see Troy's brilliant blue eyes looking upon her.

"Oh uh...nothing. I just remembered something." _Nice save_

"Right..." Troy said.

"Hey, we're gonna hit the showers, you comin' Troy?" Chad said as he rested his hand on Troy's shoulder.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here for a while." Chad gave him a _are you kidding me?_ look but Troy just shrugged it off. As the team walked away, Troy sat down next to Gabriella with his head resting on the locker behind him.

"Phew Bolton, you stink!" Gabriella said moving over.

"The great smell of Man power." Troy lifted up his arms which gave out more odour, Gabriella couldn't help but laugh.

"Put your atomic bombs down Bolton, unless you want the whole school to faint." She pushed Troy's arms back down beside him.

"Listen, I want to talk about last night..." Troy said as he twiddled his thumbs.

"Yeah...I had a feeling you would." Gabriella looked around suspiciously for any students who would happen to listen in on their conversation.

"It didn't mean anything to you right?" Troy said looking into Gabriella's eyes. _Of course it did, why wouldn't it?_

"Course not! I mean, your my bully, that's it." Gabriella said as she sighed.

"Yeah well but-"

"No but's Bolton, now go and shower before you kill me. Oh yeah and speaking of killing me, Sharpay asked if you want to go to the Rhite's dance with her." Gabriella didn't want to say it, but she knew she had too.

"You mean that prissy girl from drama class?" Troy said as he laughed.

"Yeah."

"Well I was kind of hoping for another girl to ask me...but ok why not. And since your the one that asked for her, why don't we go to your house and we all go together?" Troy said as he bounced the ball that he had brought with him.

"Sure but only one problem. I don't have a date." Gabriella sighed and placed her head in her hands.

"You don't need a date. We can go as a group." Troy smiled his thousand-watt smile.

"I don't think Sharpay would like that-" _Yeah and I can imagine what would happen if it did._

"Don't be stupid Montez, she should repay you back for asking me for her." Troy continued to bounce the ball.

"Ok, whatever. Come by my house with Sharpay at 7:30." Gabriella said as she pushed herself up.

"Alright." Troy said as he followed her up.

"Troy..." Gabriella moved away with her back facing Troy.

"Why are you so nice to me now?" She turned around to see Troy looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't know. I guess last night opened my eyes to the real you...gee that sounded like a movie line." He said as they both laughed. Troy waved goodbye as they went their seperate ways.

* * *

_**At Gabriella's house**_

Gabriella collasped on her bed after a day of schooling. She loved school but...once in a while she was a normal teenager and just plain hated it. The Rhite's dance was in an hour and Gabriella was still in her blue faded jeans and yellow polo shirt. But she remembered...Troy and Sharpay would be here in an hour! Gabriella lifted herself up off the bed and headed to her closet. All she could see were jeans, jeans, shirts..and...a bag?

As Gabriella pushed away a few items of clothing she noticed a long bag hanging in the back of her closet. She was confused, but was also curious at what was inside it so she grabbed it and placed it neatly on her bed. _Okay Gabi, just breathe. If it's a dead body you know the number for the police, if it's Stella hiding in here you know to slap her. _Gabriella took a deep breath in and opened the bag, then she gasped. She couldn't believe what she saw...

In it was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. The dress was a jet black Mayon' Beige (made up person) original. She had seen it in a shop a long time ago and adored it. But the only person that knew she liked it was... her father.

Gabriella lifted up the dress infront of her as she eyed it. She had never seen anything like it! Just as Gabriella was about to put it back in the bag she noticed a note fall out of the dress. It read:

_My dearest Gabriella,_

_I know how much you loved this dress. I knew one day you'd find it. I hope you use this dress wisely and not at some drunken party of a friend of yours. I will love you forever and forever._

_Love dad._

Gabriella couldn't help but cry. Her dad had been missing for the past 2 years. She knew she'd gotten over it but the dress had brought back so many memories. Her dad was the only person she could go to for advice. He was always there for her and she never knew why he left. No one did.

She knew that she had no where else to wear the dress to so the Rhite's dance was the perfect opportunity. Gabriella placed it on, it was a bit above her kneee but that was fine. She then went to her vanity mirror and curled her hair and straightened her long fringe. Then she got a pair of black pumps her mum gave her for christmas and placed them on which matched the dress perfectly.

Gabriella eyed herself, she couldn't help but admit, she looked pretty good. If you just met her you wouldn't think she was a nerd! Not in that get-up after all!

"Gabi! Your friends are here!" Gabriella heard her mum yell from downstairs. _Friends? Yeah right. _She put the finishing touches on her outfit along with a gold bracelet her dad had given her for her 13th birthday. Then headed downstairs.

As she went down the stairs she could see Troy and Sharpay sitting side by side on the cream-coloured sofa.

"You guys ready?" Gabriella said whilst standing by the stairs.

"Wow, Montez...you look...wow!" Troy stood up. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt with a black tie and some buisness pants probably from his dad. He had on his black italian shoes he had gotten from the Evan's family last summer.

"Thanks Troy..." Gabriella giggled as she walked over to them, she could see Sharpay eyeing her in a weird way.

"You look alright. Except for the Mayon' Beige dress that was in last fall." Sharpay said.

"Thanks Sharpay, you look okay yourself." Sharpay was wearing, a gold mini dress with a stretchy belt to match, her hair was also playfully curled.

"Ok girls, let's get a move on." Troy headed out the door followed by Sharpay then Gabriella after she kissed her mum on the cheek goodbye.

* * *

**A/N: ****Sorry it took so long! I was **_**super**_** busy and I also had major writers block! And if it sounds rushed then at least you know why. If you could all give me ideas for the next chapter I'll be sure to credit you and thankyou personally! Also, thankyou for all the reviews, I'm gonna thank each of you all personally in the next chapter which will be all about the Rhite's dance! I guess this chapter showed a bit about Gabriella's past. More on Gabriella's past in the chapters to come. **


	5. The Rhite's dance prank

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own.**

* * *

As Gabriella got out of Troy's Range Rover, she could see Red and White streamers hanging from the ceiling, the school mascot parading around the hall and all the students dancing and having the time of their life. 

"You ready to go?" She heard Troy say to Sharpay. Gabriella watched as the two linked arms and headed into the hall. Gabriella just sighed and followed them in.

The room was filled with sweaty over-dancing teenagers and teachers who didn't really give at damn at what they were doing. Gabriella watched Troy and Sharpay heading to the dance floor as they just left Gabriella admiring the scene. The music was louder then a thousand elephants rampaging through the streets of new york...seriously!

Gabriella sat down at a table next to her. She watched as Troy and Sharpay were happily dancing together. As the next few minutes passed. You could say that Gabriella, wasn't having the BEST time of her life.

As she continued to stare out into the dance floor a slow song she had heard on the radio came on. It was an old song by All 4 one called I swear. Gabriella noticed people moving away from the dance floor leaving just couples dancing together.

"Wanna dance?" Troy said as he held his hand out in front of Gabriella.

"Ok...where's Sharpay?" Gabriella stood up looking around for the girl with blonde locks.

"She's taking a break." Troy smiled and lead Gabriella to the dance floor. They were right in the middle, where everyone could see them. Troy's hand were around Gabriella's waist and hers was wrapped around his neck. They gazed at eachother, like they had forgotten about the past.

"Troy..." Gabriella placed her head on his shoulder.

"Mm?" He mumbled.

"How come you're being so nice to me?" Gabriella by now was smiling.

"I'm not." She heard him say. Gabriella lifted up her head to see a smiling Troy who was looking at someone.

"NOW!" Troy yelled to the person, Gabriella looked over to Chad who had pulled a rope.

Gabriella was confused, she looked at Troy who was looking up at the ceiling, Gabriella copied and what she saw was...a water balloon above her head.

SPLASH! Went the water balloon on Gabriella. She was soaked, from head to toe. Her dress was now ruined and so was her make-up and hair. She looked up at Troy who by now was laughing his head off.

"How-how-how could you do this?" Gabriella looked at the floor, she didn't want to even LOOK at Troy.

"What do you mean how could I do this? What? You actually think I could be THAT nice to you?" Troy said, the music had stopped and all you could hear was the mocking laughter of fellow wildcat students.

"I hate you." Gabriella sniffed.

"Aw what's wrong? Lil' baby gabi gonna cry?" Troy said in a mocking way.

Gabriella couldn't take it anymore, she pushed Troy out of the way and ran out of the hall. Gabriella sat on the front steps crying. Her head was in her hands and all she could think about was how stupid she was to think that Troy Bolton would be nice to her.

Gabriella got out her phone that luckily was tucked safe in her dress so it wouldn't get wrecked.

"Hey mum...can you pick me up?" Gabriella said in between sniffs.

"What's wrong sweety? I thought Troy was going to drop you off?" Her mum said in concern.

"Um...I'll tell you when you come ok, love you." Gabriella hung up and placed the phone on the concrete step next to her,

As she looked out into the empty school all she could think about was how stupid she was. How stupid she could be to think that Troy was actually being nice!

"I heard what Troy did to you..." Gabriella heard a voice say from behind her. She turned around to see Sharpay.

"Oh and I suppose you were rooting for him." Gabriella said as she turned away.

'"I didn't know he'd be that mean to you..." She said as she sat down looking up at the sky.

"His my bully Sharpay what do you expect? Flower bushes and daisies?!" Gabriella said whilst walking to the stair railing.

"No...just, I didn't know he'd stoop so low." Sharpay looked out into the moonlight.

"See what he does to me?! And your no better considering how you're blackmailing me." Gabriella said not turning to her.

"What?! Here I was trying to comfort you and you're just blowing it off!" Sharpay got up and turned to face Gabriella.

"How could I let you if all I can think about are those diary entries?!" Gabriella fought back.

"Well if you..if..you...I'm better then you!" Sharpay said as she stormed off to go back in the dance.

Gabriella was alone once again. She leaned on the stair railing looking up at the sky. Her dress was still wet and she looked like a mess.

Gabriella heard a car approach her, she looked to see it was her mother smiling. Gabriella picked up her bag from the ground and headed to her mum.

"Hey mum." Gabriella said as she got in the car.

"Honey? What happened to you?!" Gabriella's mum said in shock, as she saw her daughter drenched in water.

"Don't worry." Gabriella smiled at her mother.

"Alright sweety, oh and I have a suprise at home for you!" Gabriella's mum said as they drove of into the distance.

**

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A/N:**** What could the suprise be? Sorry this was a short chapter, this plot for this chapter was stuck in my head for a while so I quickly got it down. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up...soon hopefully?**


	6. Stroll down Memory lane

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters except the parents XD**

Eager to see her surprise, Gabriella quickly jumped out of the car as her mum parked in the driveway. Still wet from the previous events, Gabriella raced to the front door. Her dress dripping out tears of humiliation and sorrow.

"Where's that darn key?!" Gabriella said looking through her bag. Her mum was right behind her. From the corner of her eye, Gabriella could see her mum smiling and getting out her own key.

"Here darling, don't rush." Gabriella's mum handed her the rusty gold key.

As Gabriella unlocked the door, it was like – misery had left her. The excitement had taken over her. She had almost forgotten about what had happened before – which was good.

Gabriella could see her mother entering the kitchen. Her high heels making the noise that you would usually hear on fashion runways. Her mum was elegant like that. Gabriella quickly looked through each room carefully. But she STILL couldn't find her surprise. It was like looking for the Christmas presents your parents hide on Christmas Eve.

Gabriella was about to lose hope until – she heard a familiar voice coming from the living room.

"And so, that's how bees make honey!" A grown man's voice said. Gabriella was SURE she had heard that voice before, but she couldn't figure out where.

"Cool! I'm hungry now!" Gabriella's sister, Stella, replied to the man.

"Stella! You already know you're not meant to talk to stranger!" Gabriella finally said storming into the living room.

"Oh, so now I'm a stranger?" The man said. Gabriella turned around – she couldn't believe who she saw.

"Dad?!" She hugged her father. The hug was warm and loving. Never in Gabriella's life did she know she was going to see her dad again.

"Hey Gabi," her dad said as they separated from the hug.

"H-H-How? Why? When?!" Gabriella finally spited out. She was in complete shock.

"Questions later. Go get changed, and – IS THAT THE DRESS? I TOLD YOU NOT TO USE IT AT A DRUNKEN PARTY!" Her father said looking at the dress all wet.

Gabriella just laughed, "I'll explain that later too." Gabriella led Stella to her room and tucked her into bed. She then went to her own room and quickly found a few things to put on. Like an East High red hoodie with the letter E in bold and colored in white in the middle. She then put on some white tracksuit pants and placed her hair in a messy bun, she then went back downstairs where she found her parents having a nice conversation in the kitchen.

"Gabi! Glad you're back! I'm going to go see how Stella's doing." Her mum said placing her cup in the sink and putting a cup of hot chocolate in front of Gabriella on the table.

"Hey Gabs, take a seat." Gabriella's dad patted the seat with the hot chocolate in front of it. Gabriella sat down and started taking sips of the hot chocolate uncomfortably. For some reason – her dad felt sort of like a stranger to her now. It's like, they barely ever met.

"What's wrong?" Her dad finally broke the silence.

"Why'dYouLeave?" Gabriella said quickly. You could hear the sadness in her voice.

"Honey…" He said as he moved closer. His arm was around her shoulders.

"There comes a time in life where – you just need a break from life and settle down."

"But why? Why did you need a break from me? From mum? From Stella? From your family?" Gabriella felt upset and angry at the same time.

"It's just – I'm not sure Gabi. But you understand me right?" No, she didn't. But she just nodded and placed her chin on her knees.

"Well, enough of me. Let's talk about you. Let's start with, why in the heck was that $500 dress all wet?" Her dad said as he smiled.

"AGuyWhoIThoughtWasMyFriendPlayedAPrankOnMe." Gabriella said quickly once again.

"Wait wait, so let me get this straight. You have a friend."

"An ex-friend." Gabriella said correcting her dad.

"Right, an ex-friend. Who you thought was you friend…" Gabriella nodded.

"But wasn't and ended up pulling a prank on you involving water?" Gabriella couldn't help but give out a few tears.

"Oh Gabi." Her dad said pulling her close and hugging her tightly. "This friend is…a tight-ass"

"Dad!" Gabriella said pulling away from the hug, in shock of what her dad had just said.

"Well It's true. You should never hurt a friend." He said smiling down at Gabriella.

They sat in silence. All they could hear was the radio blasting out music. Song after song, lyric after lyric, ad after ad. But then something funny struck them.

"_Hey all, it's 101.5 you're listening to Ke-wl on the fox. Now here's an oldie you might remember. Anyone remember Busted? And Crash the Wedding?"_

Gabriella and her dad both looked at each other.

_**I'm so rushed off my feet,  
Looking for Gordon street,  
So much I need to say,  
I'm sorry that its on her wedding day...  
Cause she's so right for me, (oh-oh)  
Her daddy disagrees,  
He's always hated me,  
Cause I never got, a j-o-b...  
Cause she's mine,**_

"This song…" Gabriella said listening to the lyrics carefully.

"Remember?" Her dad said smiling.

"_And I'm glad I crashed the wedding!" _Gabriella lip-synching to the song.

"_It's better then regretting!" _Her dad followed.

"_I could have been a loser kid." _Now they were in an all-out duet.

"_And ran away and hid." _Her dad said grabbing a carrot and using it as a mic.

"_But it's the best thing I ever did.  
Cause true love lasts forever  
And now we're back together  
As if he never met her  
So we get back,  
I'm glad i crashed the wedding... _

The neighbours spread the word,(damn)  
and My mom cried when she heard,  
I stole my girl away,  
From everybody gathered there that day, And  
just in time,

And I'm glad i crashed the wedding,  
Its better than regretting,  
I could have been a loser kid  
And ran away and hid  
I said I'd do it and I did.  
Cause true love that lasts forever  
And now we're back together  
As if he never met her  
So we get back,  
I'm glad i crashed the wedding...

Don't waste time being  
mad at me for taking her away, coz  
Anyway she didn't want to stay.  
So please believe me when I say

She's glad I crashed the wedding  
Its better than regretting...  
The ring she got was lame  
She couldn't take the pain,  
She didn't want a silly second name  
Cause true love lasts forever,(true love lasts forever)  
And now we're back together  
You might as well forget her,  
And walk away

She's glad I crashed the wedding...(We're back together)  
It's better than regretting... (it's better than regretting)  
The ring she got was lame  
She couldn't take the pain,  
She didn't want a silly second name (no no no no)  
Cause true love lasts forever, (true love lasts)  
And now we're back together  
You might as well forget her  
And walk away  
She's glad I crashed the wedding..." 

They both sang. Each of them with a carrot in their hands. Playing air guitar and rocking their heads.

"I love that song," Her dad said as it finished.

"Yeah. Remember when you crashed mum's wedding?" Gabriella laughed, she remembered the day like it was yesterday.

_Flashback

* * *

_"_I don't want you to marry Gordon!" A 5-year-old Gabriella said, her eyes filled with tears._

"_Honey, it's for the best." Gabriella's mum said kneeling and giving Gabriella a hug._

"_What about daddy?!" Gabriella said wiping away her tears._

"_Daddy's not here." Her mum smiled and walked over to the rest of the family._

_Gabriella sat at a bench. She dangled her feet. They were placed in a pair of baby pink ballet shoes._

"_Gabi!" Gabriella heard a voice say, she looked up to see a rushed Ron (her father)._

"_DAD!" Gabriella raced up to Ron, they both shared a hug. Ron then led Gabriella into the church, frantically searching for Mae (her mum)._

"_If anyone would object. Please speak now or forever hold your peace." They both heard the priest say. There was silence in the room. _

"_I OBJECT!" Ron yelled. The crowd gasped. Loud whispers filled the room._

"_Ron?" Mae said in shock."_

"_Mae, I love you and I always will. You know that." Ron said taking Mae's hands. Then, they shared a loving kiss._

_

* * *

End flashback_

"Jeez dad. Got a little mooshy," Gabriella said as they shared a laugh.

"Yeah, well maybe one day a guy might do that for you." Ron said smiling.

"I doubt that." Gabriella turned away, Troy's face flashed into her mind.

"Well you better get some rest. It's already 11." Ron gave a Gabriella a kiss on the forehead as they both went up to their rooms.

Gabriella tucked herself into bed. She was happy that her dad was here. Her head filled with memories. But at the same time – her heart had been shattered. Troy…what he had done broke her heart. How could he be so mean and shallow? And what about Sharpay? Those diary entries. Gabriella couldn't possibly let Sharpay hand those out now, considering the fact she's not humiliated enough as is.

Gabriella groaned. So many problems, so little time.

**

* * *

A/N: Claps CHAPTER 6 IS FINITO! I'm so sorry it took so long! Please read my previous A/N to find out why. Anyway, This chapter was just a little stroll down memory lane. There'll be more drama in the next chapter I'm sure. "The after math" of the prank. Oh yeah, I'm getting the HSM2 DVD on Dec the 5****th**** YAY!!!!!!**


	7. Now hiring

**Disclaimer: You already know.**

"Here you go sir, one tall order of a Frothy Milk Decaf Latte." Gabriella said as she handed a large cup to the man across from her.

She was currently doing a 2-hour-shift at Lacey's. People say it's a rip off to Starbucks, but everone knows that Lacey's have better coffee . Gabriella still wasn't completely over the prank that had happened last night - but at least she was TRYING to get over it.

"Gabriella, I'm gonna go take my break now. You think you're fine on your own for, say - 20 minutes?" Gabriella's co-worker, Shane exclaimed already half way through the door. There was no point in answering considering he had already gone.

Gabriella was left alone. There weren't many people at Lacey's, just a few beat-up office workers who were on their break and stupid teeny boppers. So Gabriella decided to peacefully read a Harry Potter novel in the back room. It seemed very nice, a nice mug of Hot Chocolate by her side and a fireplace that was used to cook the pieces of bread served with each coffee lit up to it's warmest. That was until she got a brilliant idea.

_Dear Diary,  
So I'm pretty much writing this on a piece of paper I found in the backroom of Lacey's. Since some blonde haired bimbo took my diary, I have no other choice. Well a lot has happened during "my diary stealing". Let me start off with my dad. Have you heard? His back! He said he needed some space from his family, but I know for sure that it was more than that._

_And there's some more Troy Trauma. After I thought he changed, he goes back to his ego-maniac, selfish self. He played some stupid prank on me at the Rhite's dance. Let's just say it involved LOTS of water and laughter - for his sake._

_So all up, Troy has turned evil again, I still haven't gotten back my diary from Sharpay, I'm stuck at Lacey's finishing off the last hour of my 2-hour-shift and my dad has come back from - wherever he went to. Hey, for a freaky genius girl - my life is pretty weird..._

_Well I got to jet. Someone keeps furiously ringing that damn customer bell - some people need an anger management class._

_Later! Gabriella Montezerrreeeno_

Gabriella neatly folded the piece of paper into her shirt pocket and ran back out to the front counter.

"I'm so sorry for the wait! What can I get - " but before Gabriella could finish the sentance, she couldn't believe who she saw.

It.

Was.

Troy.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Geeky Gabster. Get all nice and clean?" Troy remarked. He had no sympathy for Gabriella at all.

"Bolton. I'm just here to work. So if you don't mind, just take your order, grab your coffee and go," said Gabriella. She wasn't happy to see him. After all, what teenage girl would like to see her bully after a brutal prank anyway?

"Calm down Montez. I'm not here for a coffee." Troy grabbed a piece of crumbled up paper from his back jeans pocket and placed it on the counter. Gabriella snatched it and read the first few lines.

**NOW HIRING**

LACEY'S COFFEE SHOP IS NOW HIRING!  
_CASUAL PART-TIMERS_ WANTED  
**$10 AN HOUR/EXTRA** ON THE WEEKENDS  
FOR MORE INFORMATION, HEAD TO YOUR NEAREST

LACEY'S COFFEE SHOP

"This is a joke right?" Gabriella stared at the flyer in haste as Troy shook his head.

"Unfortunately no. And if I knew you were working here, I would've never taken that flyer," Troy said as he watched Gabriella continuously read the flyer from back to front.

"What happened to your pizza boy job? Ha, wait I know. You got fired because you stopped and watched _Bully and me_ at each of your customers houses right?" Gabriella giggled at her joke as she neatly placed the paper underneath the tip jar.

"No, I quit. There's too many of your types around. And by your types, I mean girls who reckon they can invite a hunky stud like me into their room hoping to get lucky," Troy replied.

"What?! I did NOT want to "get lucky"! And plus, I only invited you in because you looked pretty lonely!" This time, Gabriella was yelling. She hated when Troy made it sound like she was the one at fault.

"Sure Montez...So am I going to get the job or what?" Troy said calmly, like he hadn't even noticed that Gabriella was yelling at him.

"Well..." Gabriella thought for a moment. "Since we ARE low on staff and I need a little help with my shift right now. Sure. But I'll make sure you don't get the same time shifts as me. Sound good to you?" Gabriella said picking up a spare uniform from underneath the counter.

"Sounds perfect. And a shift without you is like heaven to me." Gabriella rolled her eyes and gestured for Troy to follow her to the back room.

"Put this on," Gabriella passed a Lacey's uniform over to Troy who just stared at it. "You're supposed to put it on." Gabriella said as she pointed to the uniform she was wearing.

"I know that, but you think you can you know..." Troy did a spinning motion with his index finger, "turn around? I don't like to be perved." Gabriella rolled her eyes and sat down at a nearby chair which was facing a blank wall.

"To think a star basketballer hasn't been since half naked by girls before." Gabriella mumbled to herself.

"I heard that. And I don't mind NORMAL teenage girls. But ones like you. You know, the freaky genius ones - that's a different story," Troy said as he rushed to put on the dark green apron on.

"Bolton, you are a stupid asshole you know that? Are cliques all that matters to you? Do you only date cheerleaders cause they are not a nerd? What if a cheerleader was smart, would she be classified as a nerd?" Gabriella could feel the veins popping out of her neck. Troy cared too much about the cliques and the popularity status of life to even care about more important things.

But Troy didn't reply. He just continued to put on his uniform, "you ask some tough questions Montez." Troy finally said, breaking the silence.

Once Troy had finished putting on the uniform, both of them walked out to the front desk without saying a word.

"You go clean the tables while I mend the cashier," Gabriella said heading to the cash register. But before she could move and further a strong hand grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Whoa there missy. What makes you think I want to clean the tables? Can't you?" Troy said with his arms crossed and his left foot tapping on the wooden floor.

"Ok Bolton. First of all, you haven't gotten any training yet. You don't know how to make any of the coffees and you don't know how to run a cash register. So unless you want this business to go bankrupt because of all the stupid mistakes you end up making. I suggest you shut up and go and clean the effin' tables." Gabriella hissed as she threw a wash cloth at Troy. But before Troy could give any back talk, Gabriella pushed him out of the front counter and out into the patio.

Finally Gabriella was alone again. The smell of fresh brewed coffee filled the air and the sound of soothing jazz music floated through the room. Peace and serenity. Gabriella thought.

"Excuse me -" a guy's voice interrupted Gabriella's moment.

"Oh I'm sorry sir what can I get - " But before Gabriella could finish her sentence, she saw the most dazzling green eyes staring at her. He was a tall 17-year-old-ish guy with wavy brown hair.

"I'll have a Misty Froth Cappuccino, hold the cream," said the guy as he placed a $5 note on the table.

"Of course, name?" Gabriella said placing the $5 note in the cash register then holding up a Blue Sharpie to the cardboard coffee cup.

"Brent," Brent said calmly. He gave the most amazing smile to Gabriella who graciously returned the smile as she blushed behind the cup.

"Montez, I finished cleaning the - " Troy ran back inside huffing and puffing, only to notice Gabriella was too busy tending to a customer.

"Oh - uh Troy, you can help me make some coffee now," Gabriella said placing the coffee cup on the counter behind her.

"So you're Gabriella hey? Nice to meet you," Brent said holding out his hand.

As Brent walked away, Gabriella felt her cheeks burning up.

"I saw that Montez." Troy said as he leaned the mop and bucket next to the back room door.

"See what?" Gabriella quickly covered her cheeks and proceeded to make the coffee.

"You like that Brent guy don't you?" Troy nudged Gabriella at his gesture whilst taking out the milk from the fridge.

"What? I do not! I barely even know him! Now go put that milk in the coffee cup," Gabriella said pointing to the coffee cup on the back counter.

"Whatever Geeky Gabby," Troy said pouring the milk in the cup. "You're a tough girl to figure out."

Gabriella didn't bother to answer. She quickly sprinkled the chocolate powder on the frothed milk. But before she added the final touches she heard a strange sound coming from the frother.

"TROY!" Gabriella screamed after realizing what Troy had done.

"How do you stop this peace of sh -" Troy had let go of the frother and it had been spurting milk everywhere!

"I don't know! Just get some more cups! We can't let this spill all over the floor!" Gabriella yelled at Troy who by now was racing to find some cups.\\\

"What's going on here?" Brent said after realizing the chaos coming from the counter.

"Uh sorry Brent. There might be a delay on your coffee," Gabriella said trying to block the frother from spurting out any milk while Troy was on the floor scooping up the milk.

"Don't worry about it - I'll go somewhere else." Brent said. But before Gabriella could stop him, he was already out the door.

"SEE WHAT YOU did?" Gabriella lowered her voice after realizing that the frother had stopped.

"What? He left, so what?" Troy said getting the mop and mopping the floor clean.

"So what?! So What?!! He was the only guy that had ever taken any interest in me and now I'm probably never going to see him again!" Gabriella said sliding to the floor with her head in her hands.

"His not the only one..." Troy mumbled to himself.

"Wait, what did you say?" _Did he just say what I think he said? _Gabriella thought.

"Uh - nothing, now help me clean this up would you?" Troy quickly said as he threw a wash cloth to Gabriella who just missed it by inches. "Here's a thought, remind me to never choose you to be on my team in any sport - ever."

As Gabriella helped Troy clean up the mess, she couldn't help but think about what Troy had said earlier. _His not the only one_, what could that mean? Did someone else like me? Me? The school's freaky genius girl?

"Hey, everything okay here - what in the world?!" Scott, Gabriella's co-worker said after realizing the mess on the floor.

"Um, just a little mishap. You know - the average problem…" Troy said trying to sound calm.

"That's - who are you?" Scott said staring at Troy who was in the Lacey's uniform.

"Uh - his our new co-worker, just applied today right Troy?" Gabriella tried to give out a fake smile.

Troy smiled with her.

"Right? Troy?" Gabriella said again this time nudging Troy in the ribs.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. _Ow!_" Troy said managing to whisper his hurt.

"Well, I guess that's fine. Your shift is over anyway Gabriella. You can go home now. You can probably take Troy with you," Scott said as he grabbed a sponge and knelt down to the floor.

"Alright. Um, let's go Troy…quickly now," Gabriella said, grabbing Troy by the hand and raced out the door.

"Ew, ew, ew!!!! Nerd germs!" Troy yelled jumping up and down whilst shaking the hand that Gabriella was holding.

"Ew, ew, ew!!! Jock germs!" Gabriella yelled, imitating Troy.

"You're so stupid Montez!" Troy finally said.

"What!? May I remind you who stuffed up the frother!?" Gabriella fired back whilst shaking off the milk from her apron.

"No, I mean how stupid you were to think I could ever be nice to you," Troy replied.

"There's one thing we agree on," Gabriella said flatly.

"Why would you think a bully like me, would EVER be nice to a nerd like you? I mean, things like that only happen every million years," Troy said as he showed off his muscles.

"Please - a stuck-up idiot like you would only want brains like mine…that made no sense," Gabriella said as they both laughed - together,

Troy cleared his throat.

"Um, I better get going, Sharpay's waiting for me, we got a date," Troy quickly slid his hand through his hair.

"You and Sharpay hooked up?" Gabriella said in surprise. She tried not to sound heartbroken or devastated.

"Got a problem Montez?" Gabriella shook her head quickly.

"Oh yeah, and Sharpay said to tell you to call her about some shit about some diary. I don't know, she wouldn't give me details. Laters geek." Troy said as he messed Gabriella's hair and headed out of the mall.

Gabriella sat down on the brick border for the trees. She started to think, what did Sharpay want now? Is she finally going to give it back? Gabriella sighed. _I guess I'll have to find out myself_ she thought.

* * *

**A/N: SORRY FOR THAT LONG A WAIT! I've been so busy lately! But I made this chapter extra long for all of you! Well anyway, Happy new year! One of my new years resolutions is to update more on this story so that you guys don't have to wait so long. I'm also starting to get writers block, so if any of you have any ideas for the next chapter tell me! I also think that this story should have a minimum of 15 chapters. So yeah, happy new year once again! AND THANKS FOR READING! XD **

**P.S I changed the story title a tiny bit, _Dear Diary _was being too overused. **


	8. It's not bothering

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.**

"Mum?"

Gabriella walked down the wooden stairs to the kitchen. She wore her favourite pair of dark skinny jeans with a simple White blouse and her hair was tied up in a high ponytail.

It was silent in the house. Dead silent.

"Mum…" Gabriella said again after realizing no one was home. The kitchen was also empty. A bowl of soggy Cornflakes was placed on the island counter with a single Yellow sticky note next to it. Gabriella slowly walked over to the counter in her Grey flats and picked up the sticky note.

_Gabi,  
__Sorry I had to leave so early – big meeting today! Dad drove Stella to school and by the time you read this all of us would have probably left by now. I made you breakfast. Don't be late for school!"  
__Love,  
__Mum_

Gabriella smiled; it was sweet of her mum to leave a note like that. She threw the note into the bin next to her and started to swirl her spoon around in the soggy cereal.

"Ugh," she murmured. Gabriella picked up the bowl and walked over to the sink; she quickly rinsed out the bowl and threw the cereal away.

The time ticked by slowly, the sound of the clock's ticking seemed soothing. The small hand was on the ten and the big hand was half way through the circle which read _10:30._

"TEN-THIRTY?!" Gabriella practically screamed. She immediately reacted and ran back up to her room. She picked up her Black and White tote bag off of the floor where it sat then quickly packed her school books in it; not bothering to notice which ones she picked up. "No, no, no! I'm never late!" She repeated over and over. It was true.

She was never late.

Gabriella raced back down the stairs, picked up her Purple cardigan off the coat rack and ran out the door like a lighting bolt. "KEYS!" Gabriella yelled after realizing she forgot the keys to house but it was too late. She'd already locked herself out and there was nothing she could do about it.

Gabriella sighed and sat down on the first step to the house. She sulked.

There was no point in bothering to rush anymore.

She was already late so what was the use?

Suddenly, the sound of a roaring car drove through the street. It was a large Black Range Rover with tinted windows. The car started to slow down and suddenly stopped directly in front of Gabriella's house.

"Oh great, now I'm going to get kidnapped," she thought.

The drivers' side window rolled down to reveal the kidnapper.

Troy.

"Shouldn't you be at school by now Montez?" He asked, resting his arm on where the window slid down.

"Shouldn't you?" Gabriella fired back. She picked up her bag and walked over to the car.

"I asked you first," Troy replied, smirking. Gabriella sighed.

"I must've over slept. No one woke me and…look, can you just give me a ride to school?" Gabriella asked. Well – more like demanded.

"Why? There's no point. You're already late – might as well take the whole day off," he smiled. _God, that smile was so nice. NO! GABRIELLA STOP THINKING LIKE THAT! _She thought to herself.

"I don't skip."

"It's not skipping it's…not bothering," he smiled even wider then signaled for Gabriella to get in the car. "C'mon, we'll 'not bother' together."

Gabriella hesitated. A whole day – well, a few hours with Troy. Alone. There was definitely something wrong with that sentence.

"Wouldn't you get in trouble?" She asked, concerned.

"Then we'll get in trouble together." _Together_ he used it again. "Please? Dad's making the team run laps today and I can't stand it."

Gabriella sighed then walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. She jumped in and dumped her bag onto the back seat of the car.

"What happens if they call?" She asked.

Troy gave her an _it's-no-big-deal_ stare then flipped open his mobile phone. He pressed a few numbers then held the phone to his ear.

"Yes hello. It's Troy…yeah, Troy Bolton…can you tell my dad that I'm not feeling well, Gabriella Montez isn't coming to school either because she's going to take care of me." He faked some coughs a few times. Gabriella slapped him on the arm for saying her name.

"Okay…thank you very much…bye Aggie." Troy closed his mobile and slid it into his back pocket. "Happy?"

"I can't believe you said my name!" Gabriella whined.

"You rather be caught skipping or be taking care of me?" He replied, starting up the engine.

"I thought you said it was 'not bothering'?" Gabriella mocked.

"Whatever," Troy waved his hand in the air to signal for Gabriella to shush as he pressed his foot onto the gas pedal and steadily drove out of the street.

It was silence in the car for a while, Troy turned on the radio to a familiar radio station. The song _You're Beautiful _by James Blunt was playing. Gabriella silently lip-synched to the words as she stared out the window. They passed by various streets before leaving the suburbs. He seemed to be driving to the direction of Freeman Beach.

"Do you like this song?" Troy asked after realizing she was singing.

"Yes, it's one of my favourites."

"You have a good voice," Troy complimented.

"Uh…thanks…" Gabriella didn't know what to say, Troy Bolton had just complimented her.

There weren't many people there since it was a school day. There was only the occasional elderly couple taking a stroll by the ocean and a few women in their mid-20's sun baking. The road to the beach was lined with extremely tall palm trees and the smell of the ocean floated in through Troy's open window.

There was a small ice cream cart near the back of the beach with a guy in a light Blue polo shirt and White visor scooping out ice cream into a waffle cone for a woman in a Hot Pink bikini and Gucci sunglasses. Gabriella stared at Troy to see if he noticed her.

He didn't.

Troy drove into the beach parking lot and parked near a Red convertible. He turned off the engine and gave a sigh then looked at Gabriella with a smile.

"We're here."

Gabriella opened her door and jumped out. The smell of fresh Ocean welcomed her again.

"The beach?" Gabriella asked after walking over to Troy.

"The beach," he repeated. They walked down the concrete steps down to the beach. together

"Do you want ice-cream?" Troy asked when they stopped in front of the ice-cream stand.

"Sure why not," Gabriella said.

Gabriella chose Chocolate Mint in a cup and Troy chose Cookies N Cream in a waffle cone. He gave the guy five dollars and they both walked down to the West end of the beach where there was no one in sight and sat down on the sand.

"I'm so glad you eat. Unlike Sharpay," Troy scoffed.

"She doesn't eat?" Gabriella questioned as she scooped part of her ice-cream into her mouth.

"She does but only about one piece of shredded lettuce," he joked. Gabriella laughed along.

They both watched the ocean for a while. The sound of the crashing waves onto the rocky cliff next to it sounded nice.

"Valentines is coming up," Troy reminded, breaking the silence.

"Yeah…" Gabriella sighed. "I'll probably spend it lonely and without a valentine just like every year."

"Now come on! What about…7th grade! Ian Ralph!" Troy said.

"We were only thirteen! And he didn't even give me a rose, he gave me poison ivy!" Gabriella remarked. "I had a rash for weeks thanks to him!" They laughed together at the stupidity of it all.

"I'll probably just give Sharpay a dozen roses," Troy said, licking his ice-cream.

Gabriella could feel her heart aching. "You know, a single rose is better than a dozen."

"How?" Troy asked, he seemed curious.

"Well for one, a single rose means she's the only one for you. And that she's the only one on your mind. A dozen means you like her but you're trying to hard. Plus, a single rose is cheaper," Gabriella joked.

"So you're saying – I should give her a single rose rather then a dozen?" Troy questioned.

"Too anyone for that matter. Don't spend valentines just giving a rose to someone because others think its right. Listen to what this is telling you." Gabriella poked his Red Wildcats hoodie where his heart was.

"That's corny Gabriella," Troy laughed.

"I know, but it's true," Gabriella said, smiling.

There was silence for a while.

"Will you ever forgive me Gabriella?" He asked. Gabriella looked up from her ice-cream cup in confusion.

"Forgive you for what?" She asked him.

"For the Rhite's dance thing…I'm soooo sorry about it all. It's just that the guys –"

"Troy. It's okay," Gabriella soothed. It was obviously not. Deep down, Gabriella would always be hurt, but she couldn't let him know that. "Look at me; I'm sitting here at a beach eating ice-cream with my so called 'bully'. Do you see something wrong?"

"Kind of…" Troy remarked. He had finished his ice cream and started to wipe his mouth with the napkin that was wrapped around the cone. "It's just…I've treated you so…_crappy_ ever since I've met you. But I had a reason for it all. There was something about you that…I…" His voice started to trail off.

"You what Troy? Spit it out."

"I started to li –"

"TROY!" The sound of a squeaky girly voice boomed. Gabriella knew who exactly who it was.

"Sharpay, sweetie," Troy smiled. He got up and gave her a romantic hug.

"What are you doing here…with her?" Sharpay said in disgust as she noticed Gabriella.

"We were just hanging out…she was late for school," Troy reminded. Gabriella couldn't help but think that she was just some nerd friend…not even a friend, maybe just an acquaintance to him.

Sharpay looked at Gabriella and gave her an evil scowl.

"Shame she wasn't at school today. I handed out some flyers to people that I'm sure she would've liked to read," Sharpay hinted.

Crap.

Oh crap.

She didn't….

Of course she did.

"Troy we need to get to school, now!" Gabriella demanded. She jumped up from the sand and patted the back of her jeans.

"But I wanted to have a manicure before lunch break finished." Sharpay pointed to the nail place across the road.

"Doesn't matter, I'll take the bus." Gabriella ran down the beach and up the concrete steps. She could swear she heard Troy calling after her but she couldn't stop now. She had to get to school before Troy did and she had to get there fast.

Luckily, there was a bus parked near a bus stop. Its door were open and there was a lady just getting in.

"Excuse me, where does this bus go?" Gabriella asked the bus driver.

"Route 13. Down to Central Mall and East High." The driver said as he handed the lady a ticket.

Gabriella jumped on. The bus driver put a ticket into the machine. "One-sixty please." Gabriella searched through her pockets but realized she'd left her money in her bag.

That she left in Troy's car.

"I'll pay for you dear," the lady who had just gotten on said. She smiled at Gabriella and pushed some coins through the money slot. Gabriella whispered thank you and pulled the ticket out of the machine.

All throughout the bus ride, Gabriella kept thinking about how she was going to get back all the copies of her diary that Sharpay gave out. How she was going to stop the people who already read them from telling Troy. And how to tell Troy that Sharpay was a bitch.

The bus screeched to a halt.

"East High," the bus driver said.

Gabriella got off the bus and ran into the open doors of the school and as soon as she entered, her worst nightmare was right in front of her eyes.

Thousands upon thousands of White A4 sheets were spread across the floor and pasted on lockers and bulletin boards. They were all of the entries in her diary that spoke of her attraction to Troy Bolton and her feelings towards him.

People stared at her and whispered as she walked passed, picking up the sheets from the floor and ripping them off boards and lockers.

Gabriella felt like crying, she felt like collapsing in a corner to cry, but she couldn't. She had thousands of photocopied diary entries to retrieve before Troy came back with Sharpay and her freshly manicured hands in fifteen minutes.

"Geeky Gabi!" The sound of an annoying basketballer's voice filled the room. Gabriella stopped dead in her tracks.

"My, my. I would have never guessed," Chad walked over to Gabriella with a bunch of her diary entries in his hand.

"Go away Danforth." Gabriella snatched the sheets from his hands and continued to pick up everything she could that resembled her diary entries.

"You'll never pick them all up, that Sharpay chick copied zillions. There's more in every classroom," he said. "You know, I can't believe this. Who knew you liked Troy. I mean with all that crap he put you through you might as well have killed him instead of liking him. He would never like you geek. He's the star of the basketball team. He flirts with _cheerleaders_ not…science geeks! Give it a rest Montez and try to live in reality. He will NEVER like y-"

"SHUT UP DANFORTH!" Gabriella screamed. Chad jumped back in shock. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! YOU'VE _NEVER_ BEEN SOAKED AT A DANCE BY SOME IDIOTS, YOU'VE NEVER BEEN BLACKMAILED BY SOME PRISSY PRINCESS WHO THREATENED YOU WITH THIS CRAP!" She shoved the papers in his hands. "You've been stuck in your social ladder for too long that you don't like change. You don't get that things could be different! You don't know what us, _geeks_ have been through. And for what? For getting good grades?! That's supposed to be a good thing. Not something you get teased for! And you don't understand the fact that I could like someone out of my social circle. That I could like someone who I'm not supposed to like. So do you want me to spell it out for you? I like Troy Bolton. Want me to scream it?! I LIKE TROY BOLTON!"

Just then, Troy walked in.

* * *

**A/N: I suppose you're sick of all my excuses and why I haven't updated in months! Well let's just get to the happy part, I FINALLY MADE A NEW CHAPTER! HAHAHA! I feel so accomplished now that I've written this. I've written and re-written this chapter about 4 times all with different scenarios. It wasn't supposed to end like this and the Sharpay thing wasn't supposed to come this early but I thought, 'What the heck, might as well." So here it is! The interesting, brilliant and great parts in this story have just begun. (:**


	9. Important Authors Note 3

**A/N:** This is just a quick authors note to everyone, I know I haven't updated in a billion months (heck, by the time I update Dinosaurs would probably have come back) but just to let you guys know that I _have _written the next chapter but this is my question to you all.

Should I keep writing in third-person or change to first-person in Gabriella's P.O.V? Because I wrote the next chapter in Gabriella's P.O.V, I wouldn't mind if you choose to keep it in third-person but I feel that first-person feels more emotional and close to the characters. I'm just asking you guys because you're the readers and I wouldn't want any of you to be reading half the story in third-person and then all of a sudden have it changed to first-person lol.

So, stay in third-person or switch to first-person (Gabriella's P.O.V)?


	10. Threats, regrets and roses

**Quick A/N: **Thank you to all those who said they wouldn't mind first person 

Gabriella's P.O.V

No.

No way.

Why now? Why me?

"Gabriella..." Troy's voice was soft and sincere. He edged closer to me before finally being stopped by Chad.

"Troy, I didn't – I mean, I – " Why was I rambling? Oh right, because I just basically yelled out to the entire world that I like Troy Bolton.

Troy's eyes locked onto mine for a moment, his deep blue eyes were sparkling, sort of like the way eyes look when someone was crying.

Was he crying?

"Gabriella..." he whispered again. Was that all he could say?

"Congrats bro. Now even the geeks like you," Chad said heartlessly. I tried my best to ignore the asshole on Troy's left.

Troy walked closer to me now, so close that I could feel his breath brush against my cheek.

Once again, our eyes connected. His eyes were telling me something, something along the lines of "why?"

"I'm sorry..." I mumbled.

"Why would you be sorry?" He asked me, grabbing my right cheek and slowly caressed it.

I flinched away.

He sighed.

"This isn't right..." I mumbled again, now _I_ could feel my own eyes watering up with selfless tears.

"I know..." Troy mumbled back. My head snapped up to him.

He agreed.

He agreed that my liking him wasn't right.

"Maybe it's best – if we leave it as is. Nothing should change," he stepped back away from me.

Just then my heart broke into tiny shattered pieces of dust.

Troy just rejected me in the nicest way possible.

So why was I so broken?

I always knew this would happen; I always knew fairy tale endings never came true.

So why did I believe something like that would happen now?

I sniffed, "Thanks Troy. Sharpay, Chad," I nodded at them both. "If you'll excuse me."

And then I ran.

I am officially the biggest coward of all time.

Somehow, to my luck, the bus I had been on just before was still parked at the bus stop.

I raced over and got in, fumbling for my ticket.

"Just get in kid," the bus driver smiled.

I smiled back at him and sat down on one of the empty chairs at the back.

The bus drove out of the bus stop slowly.

Through the window, I could see Troy run out of the school with Chad and Sharpay at hand.

His eyes darted from one place to another before finally seeing me on the bus. I smiled a weak, half-smile and shook my head at him.

As the bus drove off, the last faint memories of Troy were just like the rubble the bus drove over.

Dust.

---

I sat with my chin resting on my knees as I leaned against my bed.

Somehow I figured out how to get inside the house without any keys. Luckily Stella always left her bedroom window half-open and I was able to slip in and hide.

I held in my tears, I wanted to be brave.

I had cried too many times over Troy and I didn't want this time to be the 200th, even though it was probably okay to cry right now. It wasn't a big deal, really. Many people have gotten heartbroken and many people have gotten over it.

I'm just one of those many people.

At least I wish I was.

The phone suddenly rang beside me; I turned my head and read the caller ID.

_Troy B._

Why was he calling? The phone continued to ring as I just held it in my hand.

After the sixth ring – it stopped.

I sighed and let it drop beside me, the answering machine picked up.

_Hi! It's Gabriella, I'm not here right now so just leave a message and I'll probably get back to you – bye! *beep*_

"Gabriella? It's Troy umm...oh man, look I'm really sorry cause – well I don't know. It's just – uhhh, I don't know. I'm just sorry Gabriella, I wish things could be different."

And then he hung up.

Damn.

Ignoring him wasn't going to do anything, but calling him back might make things even worse.

Why does life have to give us such complicated and frustrating decisions?

But then again, no one ever said life was easy.

Downstairs, I could hear the front door open and the sound of Stella's happy laughter echo through the house. I wiped my tears away as I got up off the floor to go downstairs.

As I hurried down, I could see my dad and my little sister on the couch watching _The Simpsons_, Stella was still in her jeans and pink and white star shirt that she wore to school and dad was in his business suit. I could hear a clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen, I turned to see my mum opening a packet of pre-made chicken soup into a large pot, she looked up and gave me a warm smile.

"Hey sweety, want to help?" She asked, I nodded and shuffled myself into the kitchen.

"How was school?" She questioned as she added some water into the pot and placed it on the stove.

"Fine," I mumbled.

"Can you cut up some chives for me please?" She pointed to the fridge as I shuffled my feet again and headed over.

I opened the fridge and pulled out a bundle of un-chopped chives.

"Is something wrong honey?" Mum's voice was sincere; she had stopped stirring the soup to turn to me.

I shook my head, trying to hold the lump in my throat that started to form as I went to get a chopping board and knife.

"Gabriella, I'm your mum and mums' know when something's wrong every time. Now tell me," she persisted. I sighed and looked up at her, "I've realised that life's complicated – that's all."

Mum sighed.

"Well if you need anything you know I'm here okay?" She kissed me sympathetically on the forehead then went back to stirring the soup.

I continued on cutting the chives. I guess I was in some sort of an unknown rush because I somehow cut my index finger. Small droplets of blood start dropping onto the cutting board, I held onto it tightly and shook it a bit as if the shaking would make the bleeding go away.

"Oh sweetie, here." Mum came over with a clean dish cloth and dampened it with cold water before placing it over my tiny wound.

"Mum it's fine, "I laughed, "It's nothing but a tiny cut." She smiled back and handed me the cloth so I could tend to myself.

Suddenly the phone rang.

Mum went to answer it even though I already knew who it would be, but for some reason I just let her go and answer it without giving her some excuse about a telemarketer calling non-stop just so she wouldn't pick it up.

"Gabriella, it's for you!" She yelled from the lounge room. For a few seconds I debated to myself on whether I should go and answer it or just to continue on chopping and pretend I never heard her.

I took the first choice.

I politely took the phone from my mum and went into my room for some comfort.

"Hello?"

"Gabriella! Thank God you answered!" Troy said in relief, he seemed out of breath...

"Hey."

"Gabriella listen, what you said to Chad –"

"Troy can you please stop pretending you care? I know you don't like me and I know you never would so please, can we just leave it at that?" The words ran out of my mouth without me giving them a second thought, it ended up sounding harsh.

There was silence.

"I'm sorry..."

"I know, you've said it way too many times now..." I mumbled back.

"So that's it?" Troy asked, in the background I heard the loud whistle of Mr. Bolton, followed by some encouraged yelling – so that's where he was, basketball practice.

Of course he was at basketball practice.

"I guess it is..." I sighed, "goodbye Troy."

I pressed the _End Call_ button on the phone before throwing it onto my bed.

What can you do when the only person who can stop your tears is the one who made you cry?

---

School wasn't going to be nice to me.

Wait no; the _students_ weren't going to be nice to me.

As soon as I walked through the doors of East High, everyone turned their heads and started whispering and gossiping to each other as they continued to stare at me.

I sighed and pulled up the hood from my Bonds blue hoodie and went over to my locker.

_24 left...13 right...16 left... _was all that ran through my mind as I pulled my locker open.

The first thing I saw was something wonderful.

A bright red rose wrapped in clear cellophane was placed in the center of my locker as it rested on top of my giant maths books. I pulled it out and slowly glanced at every side of the rose, it was beautiful.

Suddenly I remembered what today was.

Today was Valentine's Day.

I looked around to see the cardboard hearts plastered on the once-bland walls, couples were hugging and kissing against lockers and almost everyone was holding flowers, teddy bears or chocolates in their hands.

And then I heard her.

Coming into the hall was Sharpay and her Sharpettes or whatever they're called nowadays. She was holding a bunch of roses, more than twenty that was wrapped in the same clear cellophane that mine was wrapped in.

"Isn't Troy such a sweetheart?" She bragged, gesturing to the garden of roses she carried. Our eyes suddenly met and a sly smirk formed on her face.

"Nice rose Gabriella, did your pretend boyfriend buy it for you?" She laughed heartlessly, "wow, one rose. Someone's a bit cheap."

Her Sharpettes followed, laughing at her stupid joke.

I couldn't help but glare at the bleach blonde fake standing before me.

"Who knew you'd have the guts to come to school today? After you know, you're little confession..." she giggled, "Troy's mine, back off."

Sharpay clicked her fingers twice, flicked her hair then strutted down the hallway with her Sharpettes behind her.

I stared at my rose and then I noticed a tiny note on the rose that I hadn't seen before. I pulled it off and read the fine handwriting that I'd seen before.

_A single rose is better than a dozen._

And then it hit me.

I'd only ever said that to one person.

Troy.

Troy had given me the rose.

I wasn't sure if it was a way of reconciling with me or if I was just another valentine.

The final bell rang to head off to homeroom. I quickly gathered my things and the rose and headed over to ' homeroom. Everyone was already there except for herself. People were sitting on their desks, Sharpay was chatting to her brother Ryan as she filed her nails and Chad was spinning a basketball on his index finger.

I looked up from my hood to see a pair of deep blue eyes staring back at me.

Of course, I forgot for a split second that Troy was in this homeroom too.

Chad turned around to see me scurry into my usual seat at the back, he followed me and slammed his basketball onto my desk.

"Nice rose geek. Who gave it to you? Your dad?" he joked, behind him I could see Troy watching with careful eyes. Chad turned and gestured for him to come over.

"Come on bro, let's give her _our_ Valentine's gift," Chad laughed. Troy unwillingly walked over, he still looked a bit glum but pretended to perk up when he stood beside Chad.

Chad grabbed the rose out of my hands and started to rip the rose petals off one by one.

"He loves you, he loves you not, he loves you, he loves you not, he loves you..." he continued on before finally one rose petal was left of the green stem. He handed it over to Troy, who lightly took it.

"He loves you not..." Troy whispered as he ripped the last petal off.

"Sorry lover geek, I guess the primo guy, didn't fall in love with the never-to-be-primo girl." Chad chuckled; he grabbed Troy by the shoulder and pushed him away.

I tried to hold in my tears as Ms. Darbus finally arrived. She took roll and then started to talk about the new winter musical, but I didn't care.

Life wasn't getting any better.

The bell rang and everyone jumped out of their seats, I picked up my stuff and headed over to my Science class where out of coincidence, I happened to sit next to Troy because of the new seating arrangements.

Mr. Flinn talked about the periodic time table, ions and all that stuff that I already knew about, Troy and I sat in silence as both him and I pretended to write down the notes but I had a feeling he had something on his mind that was something to close to what i was thinking.

And then I decided to write him a note, I don't why – but I just wanted this awkwardness to disappear.

_Hey._

I quickly wrote and then slid the paper over to him, he glanced down at it without shifting his head then quickly wrote back.

_Go away._

I gulped in embarrassment, maybe I should've stopped writing then, but I didn't.

_I just want to talk I guess._

I slid it back; again he looked at it without turning his head then wrote back even quicker.

_Didn't I say go away? What do you want loser?_

What was wrong with Troy? Just a few hours ago he was nice and sincere, but now it was like the old Troy had come back.

_Thank you for the rose._

I needed to say something; wanted to make this right.

_You really are annoying aren't you? _

I held the lump in my throat, I just didn't get it.

_What is wrong with you?_

He read it and then all of a sudden crumpled it up into a tiny ball and threw it in the bin just like a three-pointer.

I hated this.

I wanted to make things right but he just blew me off without any explanation, I hated this.

I hated the new Troy.

Or the old Troy that just came back.

It felt like old times again, bully and geek. I didn't want it to be like the old times, I wanted new times – new memories.

We spent the rest of science class in even more awkwardness than before until the bell rang.

I took my time packing away my things because I had a feeling Troy and his group were waiting for me outside.

I was right.

As soon as I walked out of the door, I felt strong hands grab me by the shoulders and push me onto a nearby locker. I met Chad's eyes.

"We don't want you to mess with our boy Troy ok? He's got more important crap to deal with then some loser who has a crush on him. Let him go and forget." Chad was for real. He was stern and serious.

He let go of me and punched me on the arm as he walked off. The other guys with him followed his lead and all punched me one by one before finally there was one guy left.

I closed my eyes but nothing struck me, I opened them again to see Troy standing there.

I waited.

But he didn't punch me.

He just walked off.

After five more lousy periods, school was finally over. I was glad because I had a few hours to re-cooperate before the bullying started again. I packed my homework into my bag and then walked out of the East High doors.

People pushed past me, not caring I was there. There were no apologies, just pushing.

As I finally got out I felt someone grab me by the wrist and pull me aside.

I was afraid it was Chad again so i just shut my eyes and waited for him.

But when nothing happened, I realised it wasn't Chad but it was Troy, he didn't look happy but he didn't look angry either.

"Come with me," he persisted.

"What? Where? I thought you wanted me to go away?" I questioned, I could feel my eyes watering.

"Please Gabriella; I need you to come with me..."

I sighed, I had that feeling that he was being real but I also had that other feeling of uncertainty.

But of course, being the naive teenager, I nodded.

Troy smiled. It was the first time I'd seen him smile at all today. "I'll wait for you in the car." He jogged away in the direction of the student parking lot as I started to follow him.

Suddenly I heard the familiar clicking of high heels behind me; I slightly turned around to see Sharpay with her arms over her chest. She looked pissed off.

"Don't you dare go Gabriella if you do, things won't get any better! You think you're in hell now? Wait until tomorrow!" She screamed at me.

I couldn't help but laugh, "Happy Valentines!" I gave her a mock salute and followed Troy.

"You'll regret this!" She yelled after me.

I didn't want to admit it but I knew she was right; maybe I was going to regret this.

* * *

**A/N: YAYYY! It's here! I had the biggest relief when I finished this chapter, after all those months of inactivity hahaha sorry for that btw. I really want to get active and try to update a lot but I get soooo much writers block it's not even funny. I have exams next week so maybe there'll be no updates but I'm planning to post two more chapters in a few weeks because I have ideas for those yayy! Please suggest some ideas, that would be nice :) Thanks everyone! R&R!**


	11. Important Authors Note 4

I know, you all probably got a message stating there was a new chapter and probably became hella disappointed when you realised this was just an author's note but hear me out...

Let me point out something; when I started this in _2007_, yes underline, bold and uppercase the year **TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN**, I was just writing this story for the sake of it because it combined my two favourite things of the time, High School Musical and writing. I'm pretty sure I was 12 when I began this story and half way through year 7 which I guess is the equivalent to...middle school, grade 7 over in the states, right? Well now I'm 15. Yep that's right, fifteen. And I'm also in year 10 (equivalent to sophomore year?) This story took me two – three years to create! And even then I've only managed to successfully complete 9 chapters of this story. I'm not saying it only takes two seconds to create a fantastic novel, I'm just pointing out my slack and horrifying writer's block.

But here's what I'm asking, who here still actually reads this story?

I've been so MIA that even I have gotten confused about all the fanfic business. I'd love to continue this story because frankly, it's been my most successful with a bunch of views and 111 reviews and to me that's A LOT of reviews, I see others with 327846645456436 but as long as I know there's people reading and loving what I'm doing then I'm happy. I also really enjoy this plot and writing about it because I'm enjoying the story itself.

So show of hands who'd love a new chapter? I just wanna know who is still waiting on a new chapter so I know that there will be at least a _person_ out there wanting to read my work.

Thanks everyone for all your support and patience!

Love always,

Pamela


	12. Unexpected sleepover

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters.

I was in Troy's black range rover now. The radio was playing on a silent hum but I could hear the faint voice of a cheesy pop star singing. We passed by various neighbourhoods and I guessed that we were driving to his house since he was on his cell phone a few minutes ago talking to his mum about bringing a friend over. I didn't know that I was considered as a "friend" to him, whatever the term "friend" meant to him anyway. Troy didn't speak though; it was just silence in the car. I thought to myself whether he was thinking to himself like I was. Whether he was pondering on what he should say, whether –

"This isn't right Gabriella," he finally spoke. His voice was hushed and serious.

_Gabriella._

Troy only called me by my first name when he had something serious to say.

He swerved the car into a parking spot and shut off the engine. Troy sighed for a moment then turned and stared at me.

"Why do you keep doing this to me? To yourself?" He questioned, "I don't get you."

"Don't you think I know that?" I said, he looked at me more sternly now.

"Don't you think I already know how foolish I am? I embarrassed myself in front of you _and_ the whole school! So go ahead, do what you need to do. Torment me, ridicule me – at least I've seen the worst of it all." I sighed and turned away because I felt that if I did look away, I wouldn't be caught in his eyes that screamed for answers to the questions he had yearning in his mind.

Once again it was silence. It was always silence between us now, never talk.

"So now what?" He asked.

I sighed, "like you said. Nothing should change right? So that's how it should be. The same as before..." I started to drift off. What was I saying? I didn't want the way it was before – but then again, if we moved forward...wouldn't it still be the same? The awkwardness, the bullying, the hurt? What was the point of taking anymore steps anyway if all that was awaiting you was heartache?

"You don't get it do you Gabriella?!" He practically yelled at me, I was taken aback by the tone of his voice. Why was he suddenly angry?

I stayed silent, watching his eyes go from innocent and questioning to intimidating and forceful.

"Just because you get straight A's in practically every class, doesn't mean you pass the most important lesson of them all," he said sternly.

"What lesson is that?" I asked, dumbfounded.

He suddenly relaxed his shoulders and turned away from me, now staring through the driver window and I could swear, from the bottom of my heart I heard him whisper, "love."

You know those love/hate relationships you can never get over? Those ones that hurt so much to even think about? Girl likes boy. Boy is stupid. Boy is ignorant. Boy is mean. Boy is selfish. But no matter what, girl still likes boy? Well you could probably guess where I'm getting at.

According to Google, the word _love_ is defined as 'a strong positive emotion of regard and affection' but no matter how many times you search for the definition of love, you will never get the right answer.

Because love isn't something you need to search for, it is something that just happens within yourself. The butterfly effect, blushed cheeks – that sort of thing.

I was hurting inside.

And I was hurting even more to know that I would always be a part of those love/hate relationships. Girl falls in love with boy...oh you get it.

Finally, I turned to look at him again and smiled a soft, wary smile. "As we were Bolton."

Troy suddenly jumped in shock, probably from the fact that I hadn't talked in a while but then he finally smiled and my heart died. "As we were Montez."

I hate the way he answered me – how he was always certain about it because I knew when he spoke, it was always the truth.

And the truth always hurt.

"So where are we?" I asked him after finally realizing that he had whisked me off in his jet black rover off to a destination I wasn't familiar with.

He looked away from me then opened the driver door and got out. I watched as he walked around the car to open my door.

Instantly, the smell of salty fresh air floated around me.

We were at the beach.

Again.

"The beach?" I questioned, smiling to myself.

"Yeah," Troy replied. "I just thought that maybe it might be our...thing."

I stopped smiling.

_Our _thing?

We had a _thing_ now?

Since when were we an 'our' in the first place?!

"Troy I don't think this is a good –" but before I could finish my sentence, he took me by the hand and lead me down to the sand, near the ocean's edge.

It felt like déjà vu. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were practically at this exact same spot eating ice cream and laughing about love and Valentines' day?

Yeah, actually it was yesterday.

Why did Troy have to be like this, all sweet and stuff? It was nice but at the same time, it was so god damn confusing!

As always, we sat there in silence, listening to the waves – the happy, happy waves.

"This is nice," I whispered softly, I wasn't really sure if I was lying or telling the truth.

Maybe a little bit of both.

"It is," he replied back, not turning to look at me.

Silence followed again until Troy's phone vibrated loudly. He pulled it out of his back pocket and read the text – his eyes widening.

"What is it?" I asked, curiously.

"Oh uhh, it's nothing – just Chad asking when he should come over," Troy mumbled back as he pressed a few buttons then locked his phone as he placed it back in his pocket.

So that's who was coming over to his house, it wasn't me but it was the devil in the afro.

"So how are you and Sharpay going? Any monthly anniversary coming up?" Why the heck am I asking about Sharpay? Stupid Gabriella!

Troy laughed, "Things are going good I guess she's nice..." nice? Is he for real? Blinded by her bleached hair or what?

And then – yep, you guessed it, silence.

Sometimes the best words are the ones not said at all.

_Sometimes._

It felt nice to just be next to _him_. Despite everything, despite all the hurt he put me through; despite everything, it was nice –

"Lover boy!" Screamed a vociferous voice behind us, we both looked around until we saw Chad standing on the hood of Troy's car with all of his basketball team behind him.

Troy suddenly jumped up, I followed.

"Thanks bro for luring her in," Chad said smiling. What on earth was he talking about? I spun around to see Troy standing behind me staring warily at Chad and his friends.

"Chad, don't," was all he said.

"Why not bro? I told you this was gonna happen. It's either us," Chad turned, gesturing to himself and the others behind him, "or _her_," he hissed, nodding towards me.

I glared at him.

I looked at Troy again, he now looked...scared. He caught my gaze and stared at me in anticipation. I didn't know what was happening, what was going on...

"I'm sorry..." he apologized almost to himself before walking over to his friends.

I was left dumbfounded.

I was now alone.

Very, very alone.

"Congrats Troy, you've finally seen the light! Take one," Chad said, placing something into Troy's hands. They were too far away so I squinted in search of what he was giving away.

Crap.

Oh no.

Not again.

I stumbled backwards, almost falling over my own feet as I tried to get away.

"NOW!" Chad screamed, firing something towards me as I tried to scurry away.

But I was too late.

I was hit.

I could feel dozens of eggs breaking on my back, the gooey substance inside running down my hoodie. Water balloons soon followed and in no time I was drenched in freezing water and raw egg. It felt exactly like the Rhite's dance – what they did. What almost scarred me for life...

And then I realized something....

"_You'll regret this!" _

Sharpay's voice echoing through my mind with the words she had yelled at me before I followed Troy, and I finally figured it out.

She wasn't threatening me.

She was warning me.

Sharpay was trying to _help_ me.

I stood there, soaked. My head down in almost what felt like to be – shame.

I was too afraid to look up, to see the bunch of basketball bastards laughing at me as raw egg dripped from my hair and water flowed down my face.

And then suddenly I heard him –

"STOP!" Troy demanded.

I looked up to see Troy with his arms firmly placed on Chad's shoulders. Chad stood in shock.

"Troy, what do you think you're doing?!" He finally said, trying to push Troy away.

"Chad, this is _wrong_ and you know it," Troy said with brute force, he pushed passed them and ran over to where I stood in shock.

"Help me..." I whispered, reaching out to him with my shaky hands.

I didn't know why I said it, I sounded as pathetic as the words came out of my mouth but for some reason, somehow – I knew he would help.

Troy grabbed my hands and pulled me in close; I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes. He led me over to his car, my head still buried in his shirt, I didn't want to look up and see the look on their arrogant faces.

"Get off my car!" Troy yelled. I heard a bunch of jumps and thuds as everyone hopped off. Many of his friends murmured and whispered, wondering what in the world Troy was doing. He opened the door for me and I got in, still looking down – I just didn't want to meet their gaze, especially Chad's.

Because even though Troy stood up to him, I knew it and he knew it.

Chad had won.

He finally got to me and to Troy. He reached our breaking point, he might've lost a friend and he might've gained an even greater enemy but he knew that we had surrendered. And to him, it felt good.

Troy swerved out of the parking lot with great haste; he too wanted to get out of here as fast as he could.

"Put your seat belt on," he ordered. I obeyed and fumbled with the belt, trying to lock it in place.

"Troy – you don't have to do this..." I mumbled.

"Yes I do Gabriella, this isn't right. He knows it, I know it and you know it."

I shut up then because I knew that what he was saying was correct.

---

I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going. In a way, I expected him to drive me home since he already knew where I lived but once I zoned back to reality, I realised that I wasn't home.

Troy parked into the driveway of a marvellous house. Double story with an off white exterior, vine-like plants lined the corners of the house and the grass in the front yard looked so green, it was almost unnatural.

"Is this your house?!" I said, marvelled.

Troy simply laughed as he got out; he quickly ran over to my side and opened the car door for me.

"Oh, I almost forgot," I heard him say. He disappeared for a moment then returned with a familiar bag. _My_ bag!

"Thanks!" I said happily, taking it from him. I felt relieved that it was back in my hands.

"C'mon, let's get inside." He took my hand and led me to the front door of his home. Inside was even as amazing as the outside. It was big and spacious, to our right was what I assumed was their lounge where a giant HD flat screen was at and in front of us were horse-shoe like stairs which arched to the next floor.

Troy let go of my hand and gestured for me to follow him, we arrived in the kitchen and he helped himself to two cokes in the fridge and passed me one.

"Thanks," I smiled.

He looked at me with his piercing eyes and frowned, "you should probably get changed – or take a shower."

What? Immediately I knew that taking a shower a Troy's house would be a bad idea. I mean, saying a single word to him was bad enough now I was at his house?

"No, I think I'm fi-"

"I'll lend you some of my clothes, come," he interrupted and before I could bounce back he was already gone and all I could hear were his faint footsteps jogging up his grand staircase.

After getting lost in the second story of his massive house, I found him in what seemed to be his room. It was at least three times bigger than my own; a plasma hung effortlessly on his wall and a king sized bed opposite. Above it were basketball trophies standing on homemade shelves and framed pictures of his family and teammates lined in a pattern across his wall.

"Here, this should be fine. I guess it would've been better to let you borrow my mum's clothes but she would probably kill me later on," he tossed me a white shirt with a red E embodied on it and a pair of black basketball shorts.

"I can just wear my clothes again, it's okay," I practically pleaded, trying my hardest to give back his clothes but he just shook his head.

"Gabriella you're a guest in this house and I can't let you walk around with egg in your hair and smeared all over your clothes. Now hurry, the shower's to your left, you can use the shampoo and anything you need in there." He pointed somewhere outside the doorway. I sighed and shuffled myself outside, making my way into a room labelled 'Bathroom' with a picture of a bubble bath and a rubber duck floating above.

As expected, the bathroom was as lavish as the house. A mosaic sunroof beamed colourful lights onto the bathroom floor, a massive bathtub big enough for at least 3 people was situated in the centre of the room and they had a glass shower...with a bench inside!

I stepped in, closing the heavy glass door behind me – yes the shower door was glass and yes it was heavy! I didn't realise until I was in a confined space that I _stank_ of egg. Troy was nice enough to not mention that I smelled like old breakfast.

---  
I felt uneasy when I was taking the shower, I didn't want to use too much shampoo so I used as little as possible which didn't help much for the amount of hair I had and I didn't want to use up all their hot water so I practically had a cold shower with hardly any shampoo.

The only thing that mattered was the fact that all that egg had been washed away.

Troy's clothes felt warm and big. The sleeves of his shirt reached past my elbows and his basketball shorts past my knees. I returned back to his room to find Troy lying on his bed, flicking from channel to channel until finally settling onto a re-run of a Lakers game on fox.

"Hey!" He said cheerfully after seeing me in the doorway. I smiled as I walked over to him and sat on the edge of his bed so carefully that I really wasn't sitting at all.

He laughed, "You don't look comfortable."

"I'm fine," I replied, edging over a bit further.

He stopped smiling and sighed, "Gabriella I'm not that scary."

I sighed and moved closer to him, so close that our arms touched. I lifted my legs onto the bed and turned to him, "happy?" I said in a monotone.

Troy nodded then looked back at the TV screen which showed Kobe shooting a three pointer at the buzzer.

Suddenly the thunderous sound of – thunder filled the room, we both turned to see bolts of lightning shine through the window.

"Thunder storm?" I asked, _well no duh Gabriella! What else would it be? Zeus on a rampage?!_

Troy stood up and walked over to his window, staring out into the sky.

"Looks like it's probably going to go for a while, what time is it?" He pointed to a clock on his dresser which read: _6:15_.

"You should call your parents, tell them where you are so they don't have to worry," he said, running over to pick up the cordless phone on his bedside table and handing it to me.

I stared at the keypad then dialled my home phone number, on the second ring someone picked up.

"Montez residence," said my mum.

"Hey mum, it's me," I said back, twirling my hair subconsciously.

"Gabriella! Where are you?!" She asked urgently.

"I'm at –" I looked at Troy but he wasn't next to me anymore, he was back at the window staring at the dark sky.

"Troy Bolton's house," I continued.

The other end was silent for a moment until an awkward cough broke the silence, "well then, are you going to be staying over?"

"Staying over?!' I yelled. This got Troy's attention, he smiled and walked over, taking the phone from me.

"Hi, , this is Troy Bolton...yep I know ...sure, I'll take her to school tomorrow...yes I understand...Bye then!" He smiled and handed the phone to me, "say bye to your mum."

I snatched the phone away from him, "mum are you seriously allowing me to stay over?!" I didn't say it in words of excitement; I said it in words of terror.

"Goodbye sweetie, have a good night." Before I could answer back she had already hung up the phone.

I stared at screen which read _Call Ended _in block letters.

Troy suddenly burst out into laughter.

"Troy! I don't want to be here!" I screamed, throwing the phone at him.

"Relax Montez!" He took the phone and placed it back in its holder. "You can take the bed." For some reason he felt the need to point at the gigantic bed I was sitting on, not like I hadn't seen it already.

I watched him disappear for a moment then return with a sleeping bag and two pillows. He opened the sleeping bag and spread it across the floor next to the bed.

"Oh no!" I realised after returning from my transit state. "I don't want you to sleep on the floor, you can take the bed and I'll take the sleeping bag. It's no problem." I began to jump off the bed until I felt Troy's hands on my shoulders, pushing me back.

"Gabriella for God's sake, stop arguing and just accept it. If you say anything more I'll go and sleep outside!" He started to get up and roll the sleeping bag again.

I laughed, "_fine_ Bolton. No need to be melodramatic about it!"

"_Me_ being melodramatic?!" He threw a pillow at me which hit me square in the face. I gasped and threw it back at him, missing him by miles, the pillow landing on the dresser behind him.

"You have the worst aim on earth," Troy said blankly, I gave him a death stare then jumped under the covers, rolling over to face the other side that Troy wasn't on.

"Awww, are you mad at me?" I heard him say, I didn't respond and quickly went under the covers even further. Suddenly I felt the bed bulge and I peeked out from under the covers to see Troy's face inches away from mine.

"Go away!" I yelled, pulling the covers over me again.

Troy didn't answer; instead I felt the bed lighten and heard the door creak. I could vaguely hear the sound of Troy's and someone else's voice downstairs yelling profusely, how did he get downstairs so fast?

And who was he yelling at?

I lifted the covers and jumped off the bed. I quietly made my way down the hall, trying my best not to make a single sound.

"You don't understand!" Troy screamed.

"Well you don't either!" Shouted the voice that wasn't Troy's.

Without warning, they started to run up the stairs, Troy obviously trying to push the person back.

That was when I realised who he was trying to keep the person away from.

He was trying to keep the person away from me.

I tiptoed behind a pillar large enough to hide behind and watched carefully as they ran past me and into Troy's room.

Wait.

Oh dear lord.

The person was Chad.

I stumbled as I ran for the stairs. Chad came here for either two reasons.

To apologize or to look for me.

And knowing Chad it was probably the second choice.

I didn't get far in my ninja strategy before I fell flat on my face over a basketball that was lying around.

The sound was obviously loud enough for Troy and Chad to hear because seconds later, I heard them run over.

"Hey," Chad greeted. Wow, of all the things he could've said he chose _hey_?

I picked myself up off the floor and brushed off any dust on the clothes I was wearing.

"What's she doing here, Troy?" Chad asked, pointing at me as he looked at Troy.

Troy didn't know how to answer, his eyes shifted from me to Chad uncomfortably.

Chad groaned and turned to me, "what are you doing here?"

"I-I-I'm here to pick up my English essay I let Troy borrow." Yes, good excuse, good Gabriella!

"That should explain the sleeping bag in Troy's bedroom and why you're wearing his clothes, right?" Chad mused. Okay, maybe not good Gabriella...

"Well as long as I'm here, why don't I crash for the night?" Chad grinned, slamming his hand on Troy's back happily.

"What?! I mean, I don't think my 'rents will let..." Troy mumbled.

I wanted to run up the stairs and shake Troy out of his shock, we needed better lies than this!

"I always stay over, your parents wouldn't mind, you have so much space here don't you? We can have a _Saw_ marathon, what do you say?" Chad continued to ask, he was still smiling. What was his motive?

"Well, that's probably not the best –"

"Great, that's settled. I'm staying, now, should I get some popcorn?" Chad ran down the stairs and patted me on the shoulder before running into the kitchen.

I looked at Troy, an eyebrow raised. "Why?" I mouthed; he shrugged and ran his hand through his messy hair.

I love Chad, I love how he throws egg at me then rocks up and makes some microwave popcorn. He's wonderful.

Note the sarcasm.

I guess it's true, three really is a crowd.

This is going to be a really long night.

**A/N: You don't see it but I'm hugging the computer screen right now. Well not really but I would if I could do it without looking like an idiot, I'd hug it to show you all how much you mean to me! I know writing this makes me sound like it's my last day on earth or something but I do want you guys to know how much I appreciate it. I expected only about 3 or so reviews asking for a new chapter instead I got 20-ish! YAYYY Thank you to all of you, you all seriously made my day!  
On with the related stuff, I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I made it EXTRA SUPER long for you all. On Microsoft word it's about 10 pages and that's an achievement for me, I'm thinking of ending this story at 15-20 chapters but we'll see if I can go further. I've also been watching the HSM movies non-stop for three days to become comfortable and understand the characters again; I'm pretty crazy like that.**

**Like I said, hope you all enjoyed it and watch out for the next chapter!**

**Love always,**

**Pamela**


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